Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: PW173
Diagnosis: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
US Patients: 3.5% in a given year; 3.9% over a life-time;
World Patients: Much higher where wars have occurred.
Sex Ratio: M;W+. After rape, about 19% develop PTSD
Age Onset: less likel to develop PTSD if traumatic event occurs before age 10;
Brain Area: women with smaller hippocampi; more norepinephrine; brain shrinkage, but hyperactive amygdala.
Symptoms: after a traumatic event, thoughts, dreams, mental or physical distress, changes in thought, increased fight-flight, self-harm, suicide
Progression: intrusive, recurrent recollections, flashbacks, and nightmares; depression, anxiety and mood disordersl drug or alcohol abuse
Causes: previous rape or child abuse; war, refugee status; death of a loved one; cancer, heart attack, stroke;child in chronic illness’s parents
Medications: antidepresssants and SSRI’s help 50%;
Therapies: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing helped 50% in children and adolescents.
4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED
The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis
Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.
- Mental health of women and children experiencing family violence in conflict settings: a mixed methods systematic reviewby Delan Devakumar on October 16, 2021
CONCLUSIONS: Family violence was common in conflict settings and was associated with mental health outcomes, but the studies were too heterogenous to determine whether prevalence or risk was greater than in non-conflict settings. The review highlights an urgent need for more robust data on perpetrators, forms of family violence, and mental health outcomes in conflict-affected settings in order to help understand the magnitude of the problem and identify potential solutions to address it.
- Low-level blast exposure induces chronic vascular remodeling, perivascular astrocytic degeneration and vascular-associated neuroinflammationby Miguel A Gama Sosa on October 16, 2021
Cerebral vascular injury as a consequence of blast-induced traumatic brain injury is primarily the result of blast wave-induced mechanical disruptions within the neurovascular unit. In rodent models of blast-induced traumatic brain injury, chronic vascular degenerative processes are associated with the development of an age-dependent post-traumatic stress disorder-like phenotype. To investigate the evolution of blast-induced chronic vascular degenerative changes, Long-Evans rats were...
- Prevalence and correlates of common mental health problems and recent suicidal thoughts and behaviours among female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenyaby Alicja Beksinska on October 15, 2021
CONCLUSIONS: The high burden of mental health problems indicates a need for accessible services tailored for FSWs alongside structural interventions addressing poverty, harmful alcohol/substance use and violence. Given the high rates of ACEs, early childhood and family interventions should be considered to prevent poor mental health outcomes.
- Prevalence of complex post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees and asylum seekers: systematic reviewby Umanga de Silva on October 15, 2021
CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights both the high prevalence of CPTSD in treatment samples and the lack of research aiming to establish prevalence of CPTSD in refugee and asylum-seeking populations. Understanding the prevalence of these disabling disorders has implications for policy and healthcare services for the appropriate promotion, planning and provision of suitable treatment and interventions for this highly traumatised population.